By Jordan Lim

Despite wasting a king’s ransom worth of chances, visitors Kingston City claimed a priceless 2-1 win over Springvale White Eagles in its promotion tilt.

Second half goals to club leading goal scorer Sean McIlroy and former White Eagle Hamish Millar saw Kingston take a two goal lead, only for substitute Dejan Erakovic to score a late consolation for the hosts.  

Springvale started the brighter of the two sides, as City seemed to take some time to thaw off the Wintery chill running across the pitch at White Eagles Stadium.

Ricardo Teixeira nearly caught out the defence with a darting run, but his eventual shot was well saved by Kingston keeper Douglas Lindberg.

Sean McIlroy found himself in a number of dangerous positions in the first half and was urged to shoot by the crowd in the 18th minute.

He instead opted for a delicately dinked cross for Millar, who couldn’t get his head on the ball from close range.

Kingston worked its way into ascendency but proved its own worst enemy in terms of capitalising on the pressure.

McIlroy in particular frustrated, as the star striker inexplicably blasted over the bar from Ben Osei-Safo’s cutback, before missing another opportunity in the dying embers of the half.

Millar – with the boot – and Deniz Sabanovski – head – both missed glorious opportunities in between, with the only other chance of the half falling to Springvale’s Texeira, who drove a shot straight into the arms of the opposition keeper.

Little changed in the second half, as it opened with McIlroy once again blasting a shot over the crossbar; yet another chance that he’d have buried with minimal fuss on another day. 

But he didn’t let the misses affect him, as he latched onto a long ball to open the scoring on 61 minutes.

The forward took a pass in his stride on the left side of the box and clinically dispatched past the onrushing Nebojsa Vujic to put the visitors a goal to the good. 

McIlroy departed the pitch just beyond the hour mark, succumbing to a minor injury to his left leg; former White Eagles midfielder Jamie De Smit taking his place on his return to his former stomping ground.

Kingston should’ve made it 2-0 soon after through centre-half Jamal Clarke, who saw his powerful shot from a cross blocked on the line by teammate Osei-Safo.

Luckily for the winger, it mattered little as he played a key role in the second goal, teeing up Millar with a perfect cross who made little mistake from inside the area.

The points looked all but sealed for City, but an injury-time strike to Springvale substitute Dejan Erakovic made for a nervy final minute.

A seemingly innocuous low shot from 20 yards deceived Kingston keeper Lindberg, who lost focus on the ball and allowed the strike to slip through his legs into the back of the net. 

Kingston held on to close the gap on ladder leaders Melbourne Victory to just three points.

Match Details:

Springvale White Eagles 1 (Erakovic 90') defeated by Kingston City 2 (McIlroy 61', Millar 85') at White Eagles Stadium [HT: 0-0]

Springvale White Eagles: 1. Nebojsa VUJIC (GK), 4. Simo JOVANOVIC (C), 23. Nenad NIKOLIC, 17. Sebastian LECAROS, 15. Milan JOVANOVIC (21. Dejan ERAKOVIC 87’), 16. Ryan BABARE, 7. Keletso MTHEMBU, 8. Hernan DE RITO (18. Trent HANSEN 85’), 11. Ricardo TEIXEIRA, 3. Vedran TOMIC, 6. Slavisa SARIC

Unused Substitute(s): 30. Jeremy SANDOVAL, 5. Scott MILLAR

Yellow Card(s): Nil

Red Card(s): Nil

Kingston City: 24. Douglas LINDBERG (GK), 2. George STAVRIDIS, 4. James KARVELIS, 3. Jamal CLARKE, 6. Nicholas MODAFFERI, 16. Nicholas STAMATIOU (18. Steven FERGADIOTIS 45’), 8. Deniz SABANOVSKI (20. Gianluca PIZZIRANI 85’), 7. Ben OSEI-SADO, 19. Hamish MILLAR, 15. Andrew DOIG (c), 22. Sean MCILROY (10. Jamie DE SMIT 64’)

Unused Substitute(s): 14. Lucas MORREY, 13. Peter KOUNDANIS

Yellow Card(s): McIlroy 55’

Red Card(s): Nil